Husain works top sale, fetches Rs 2.3 cr

Three paintings by MF Husain topped a Bonham’s auction, going under the hammer for Rs2.32 crore with an untitled oil work in which the legendary artist combines his iconic subject matters — horse and woman — fetching Rs1.23 crore alone.

Three paintings by MF Husain topped a Bonham’s auction here, going under the hammer for Rs2.32 crore with an untitled oil work in which the legendary artist combines his iconic subject matters — horse and woman — fetching Rs1.23 crore alone.

The auction house’s Modern and Contemporary Middle Eastern Art sale represented artists from eight countries — India, Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Many of the artworks by Husain, Sadanand Bakre, SH Raza, FN Souza, Jamini Roy, Fadi Barrage (Lebanon), Sual al-Attar and Ismael Fattah (both Iran) and George Keyt (Sri Lanka) were new to the market having been in private collections for 40 to 50 years.

Husain’s winning work, signed and dated in Devanagari and further dated ‘70 in English on the lower left, is laden with veiled symbology and intensity. The two figures are portrayed against a burnt red moon and mottled brown background, a colour scheme, which is very elemental in its nature, heightening the intense atmosphere of the work.

Though an exciting element of the sale was the presence of Bakre, who was part of the Bombay Progressive Artists Group, only two of his five works on offer sold. While Bakre’s metallic work sold for Rs7 lakh, a signed acrylic work on canvas, titled “Thames” and dated 1969, went under the hammer for Rs6.18 lakh.